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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Comcast High Speed
bellaapplepie - Aug 31, 2005 - 6:24 pm
My son talked me into a IMAC so he could make movies. I have never had a mac before. it's a nice treat. i would like to hook up to comcast high speed. i have a cable line and now i have to figure out what to get. comcast offers a free modem and router, but i have not heard too many good thing about it. I'd like to hook up my older computer with xp to a modem and then get a router for my new G5 IMAC. I paid extra for the wireless feature, so the apple will be wireless.
Can an Windows XP and MAC be networked?
What should I buy?
What is ethernet and how do i connect it to my older gateway computer?
Any advice would be wonderful!
Can an Windows XP and MAC be networked?
What should I buy?
What is ethernet and how do i connect it to my older gateway computer?
Any advice would be wonderful!
ThGreenMoFo - Aug 31, 2005 - 6:59 pm
Good to hear that you are enjoying your Mac. Here's the answers to your questions in the order that you asked them..
1.) Can a Windows XP and Mac be networked?
Yes, they can. Both Windows and Mac based computer operating systems have interoperability components built in to them to allow each system to communicate with the other. You shouldn't have to worry much about getting them to work together as most of this setup is done automatically now.
2.) What should I buy?
You will first need a cable modem (or DSL modem if you have DSL). There's really no difference in cable modems so whatever you can find will suffiice. The modem will connect to a standard TV wall connector through a coaxial cable (the big fat black snake-like thing with a silver screwing connector on the end) and then a network cable will connect that to your router. After you have the modem set up you will need a router of some sort. Many today offer both "hard-lined" (meaning wired) connections and wireless options packaged into one neat little device. If you are going to use a completely wireless networked connection then you shouldn't worry about having the connectors for hard-lined computers on your router but they are always nice to have. There are two main types of routers - those using 802.11b (11 Mbps) and those using 802.11g (54 Mbps). Whichever you choose as long as your Mac supports one or the other (if its new it should support both). 802.11b is just a little slower and won't penetrate walls as easily as the newer (and faster) 802.11g but the 802.11b is a little slower. Lots of companies produce routers so here's a couple links that will get you started in the purchase decision:
Linksys WRT54G:
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satel...VisitorWrapper
That's solid router that has been out for quite some time and provides both wired and wireless connection over 54G networks. Linksys also produces a 11B version of this router.
Apple AirPort Extreme
http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/
It's kind of expensive but a nice product as well. Apple also produces a cheaper model called the AirPort Express that you may want to look into.
I would also recommend looking into the D-Link brand which you can find at Http://www.dlink.com.
If you need to connect desktops to the router in order to share one internet connection you will need to buy network adapters/cards for each computer unless it already has one. If you go totally wireless you'll need to buy wireless adapters and if you go wired you will need to buy wired adapters and ethernet cable. You can find a lot of information on the Linksys website.
3. What is ethernet and how do I connect it to my older gateway computer?
Ethernet is simply the name of a network standard that was approved some time ago by the IEEE. The cable that it uses has been termed ethernet cable and it looks like a fatter rounder telephone cable with a big phone jack on the end of it.
Hope this helps you! Let me know if have any other questions!
1.) Can a Windows XP and Mac be networked?
Yes, they can. Both Windows and Mac based computer operating systems have interoperability components built in to them to allow each system to communicate with the other. You shouldn't have to worry much about getting them to work together as most of this setup is done automatically now.
2.) What should I buy?
You will first need a cable modem (or DSL modem if you have DSL). There's really no difference in cable modems so whatever you can find will suffiice. The modem will connect to a standard TV wall connector through a coaxial cable (the big fat black snake-like thing with a silver screwing connector on the end) and then a network cable will connect that to your router. After you have the modem set up you will need a router of some sort. Many today offer both "hard-lined" (meaning wired) connections and wireless options packaged into one neat little device. If you are going to use a completely wireless networked connection then you shouldn't worry about having the connectors for hard-lined computers on your router but they are always nice to have. There are two main types of routers - those using 802.11b (11 Mbps) and those using 802.11g (54 Mbps). Whichever you choose as long as your Mac supports one or the other (if its new it should support both). 802.11b is just a little slower and won't penetrate walls as easily as the newer (and faster) 802.11g but the 802.11b is a little slower. Lots of companies produce routers so here's a couple links that will get you started in the purchase decision:
Linksys WRT54G:
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satel...VisitorWrapper
That's solid router that has been out for quite some time and provides both wired and wireless connection over 54G networks. Linksys also produces a 11B version of this router.
Apple AirPort Extreme
http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/
It's kind of expensive but a nice product as well. Apple also produces a cheaper model called the AirPort Express that you may want to look into.
I would also recommend looking into the D-Link brand which you can find at Http://www.dlink.com.
If you need to connect desktops to the router in order to share one internet connection you will need to buy network adapters/cards for each computer unless it already has one. If you go totally wireless you'll need to buy wireless adapters and if you go wired you will need to buy wired adapters and ethernet cable. You can find a lot of information on the Linksys website.
3. What is ethernet and how do I connect it to my older gateway computer?
Ethernet is simply the name of a network standard that was approved some time ago by the IEEE. The cable that it uses has been termed ethernet cable and it looks like a fatter rounder telephone cable with a big phone jack on the end of it.
Hope this helps you! Let me know if have any other questions!
bellaapplepie - Sep 16, 2005 - 11:52 am
Thank you for the information. I am hoping to get this set up this weekend. I'm still confused about the adapter cards. Do I have to get and adapter card if my MAC has that wireless feature?
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